Schenectady’s Rivers tops among N.Y. casinos in sports betting

MONTICELLO — Resorts World Catskills Casino Resort will hold a grand opening for its sports gambling lounge Thursday, completing the quick rollout of newly legalized betting on sports in New York state’s non-Indian casinos.

The 6,000-square-foot space, called Sportsbook 360, includes three dozen flat-screen televisions in an arc around a central bar, plus more than a hundred seats, cashier windows and self-serve kiosks.

It began operating last month at the Monticello casino, which is the newest, most expensive and most ambitious of New York’s commercial casinos and has run into trouble as revenue failed to meet expectations.

Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady opened its sportsbook first, in July. Tioga Downs followed in July, then Del Lago Resort and Casino and Resorts World in August.

With six weeks of data available, Rivers is leading the pack, with its sportsbook averaging $96,666 a week of gross gaming revenue — money wagered by gamblers minus money paid to them on winning bets. Tioga, also with six weeks of data, is averaging $23,832. Del Lago and Resorts World saw $83,516 and $27,836 in gross gaming revenue, respectively, in their first and so far only reported week of sports betting activity.